The Mysterious Fog
by Apollo77
Summary: An odd fog in Eterna Forest has everyone acting rather strangely, but it doesn't seem to be affecting Dawn...


**The Mysterious Fog**

A thick, dark fog blanketed the air as Ash, Dawn, and Brock headed to Eterna City through Eterna Forest. The fog made it incredibly hard to navigate the forest, with the path already obscured by foliage. They grew tired of wandering around.  
"Guys, let's stop going in circles, it's not worth the trouble..." Dawn complained.  
"Alright, let's set up camp for the night," Brock agreed. He and Ash started to set up the tents. Piplup stirred a bit on Dawn's shoulder, getting an odd feeling from the fog.  
"Hey guys," Dawn told the other two. "Piplup's acting a bit weird. I think I'll go for a walk to calm him down."  
"Okay, but be careful," Ash advised, an oddly large amount of concern in his voice.  
"Right, be careful Dawn," Brock added, also with great concern. Dawn stared at them for a few seconds, then nonchalantly reassured them with her famous "No need to worry!". She turned and walked off.

"What was up with them?" Dawn asked Piplup. Piplup wasn't paying attention though. Its gaze was fixed on a wild Buneary that was hopping along in front of them. "Piplup?" she asked, trying to get its attention. But it was no use, for Piplup's eyes remained glued to the Buneary. Piplup soon hopped off Dawn's shoulder and walked up to the Buneary.  
"Pip Pip Piplup!" Piplup said to it. Dawn almost got the feeling as if... As if Piplup were flirting with it. Dawn's suspicions were somewhat confirmed when the now angry Buneary used Dizzy Punch on Piplup and sent it flying, then hopped away with a scowl on its face. Dawn had seen enough.  
"Piplup, return!" she called, and Piplup returned to its Poke Ball. She decided to go back to the campsite where Piplup couldn't offend any other Pokémon.

Meanwhile, at the campsite, things weren't exactly peachy with Ash and Brock. As soon as Dawn had left, Ash spoke up and asked, "Hey Brock, was it me or was I really worried about Dawn back there?"  
"I felt the same way," Brock answered. He finished setting up his tent and asked, "Why, does it bother you?"  
"Well, actually," Ash began, but then thought for a moment. He then finished by saying, "I think I love her..."  
"Weird," Brock said. "I think I may too..."  
"What?" Ash yelled. "You can't love her! I love her!"  
"No way, man," Brock growled angrily. "She's mine!"  
"No, I said I loved her first!" Ash whined very childishly. Having just finished putting up his tent, he started to put up Dawn's. Brock noticed this and stopped him.  
"Hey, back off!" Brock scolded. "I get to set up her tent!"  
"Who says?"  
"I do!" The two boys walked closer to each other until they were in each others' faces, scowling at each other. Before anything could happen though, Dawn came back to the camp.  
"Hey guys, what's...up?" she asked, confused at the odd scene.  
"You like me more, right Dawn?" Ash and Brock exclaimed in unison.  
"Umm, are you guys okay?" Dawn asked, completely bewildered by their question.  
"I love you, Dawn," Ash proclaimed.  
"No, I love you more, Dawn," Brock cut in.  
"Okay this is really weird," Dawn cried. "Can someone please tell me what's going on?"  
"Well? Who do you like more?" Ash asked.  
"Yeah, Dawn, you have to choose!" Brock coaxed.  
"I can't choose!" Dawn screamed. "Want to know why? Because you both are acting stupid!" With that she turned and stormed away from the camp again. She could hear them begin to bicker as she walked away. "First Piplup, then them, what is up with guys today?"

"You drove her away!" Ash yelled at Brock after Dawn left.  
"Me?" Brock asked, not hearing it. "You were the one who tried to steal her from me." Before the quarrel could escalate, a shrill shriek pierced the still air.  
"Dawn!" Ash and Brock cried.  
"We have to save her!" Ash said, breaking into a run into the forest.  
"Let's go!" Brock shouted back, already a good distance ahead of him.

Dawn stared at the Wurmple that just appeared in front of her face. It dangled from a string, apparently having fallen from a tree. She sighed, wishing she hadn't been caught by surprise nor screamed so loudly. "Ash and Brock will probably come looking for me now, I'd better get back to them before they worry." she thought to herself.

Ash and Brock continued to search the forest, moving in the direction of the scream in an attempt to find Dawn. The thick fog made it impossible to find anything though, so they wandered around for several minutes. Suddenly they heard an identical scream to the first.  
"There's Dawn!" they gasped in unison. They followed the sound and saw two silhouettes in the fog. One looked like Dawn, the other was a much taller man who looked like he was holding a knife. Ash and Brock watched, aghast, as the man thrusted the knife into Dawn's chest, then pulled it free and stabbed her again. They shook off the trance of horror and darted into the fog, only to find nothing. Ash decided to move the fog away from the area.  
"Staravia, come on out!" he exclaimed as he threw out Staravia's Poke Ball. His Staravia appeared in front of him, stretching its wings. "Staravia, use Wing Attack!" Staravia frantically flapped its feathery wings to clear the fog just from that small area. Still, nothing out of the ordinary could be seen.  
"We have to find her, we can't give up here!" Brock encouraged. They continued to search for any sign of Dawn or the other mysterious figure, but after a few hours gave up out of fatigue. They slunk back to the camp, disappointed.

Only when the fog drifted away from the forest were Ash and Brock able to find their way back to the camp. Awaiting them when they arrived was a distraught Dawn who stood in front of her set-up tent.  
"Dawn!" Ash cried. "You're alive! But how?"  
"What are you talking about, Ash?" Dawn asked, raising an eyebrow.  
"We heard your screams in the forest!" Brock explained. "Then we saw someone stab you twice with a knife!"  
"I only screamed once, Brock, because a Wurmple caught me by surprise in front of my face," Dawn argued. "I never got stabbed nor did I even see anyone else in the forest. This is too much weirdness for one day, I'm going to bed." With that she turned and crawled into her tent.  
"Are you as confused as I am, Brock?" Ash asked, unable to comprehend the contradicting information.  
"Definitely," Brock agreed. "I guess we should hit the sack too, then." He walked to his tent and went inside. Ash started for his tent, but all of a sudden an odd rain, falling without a cloud in the sky, started to pour. He blinked a few times, then spontaneously got an odd, uncontrollable impulse to talk to Brock. He leaned into the tent and asked,  
"Hey Brock? You don't think we could..."  
"We could what?" Brock asked, not getting what Ash was saying.  
"You know, you and me..."  
"I don't get..." Brock started, but then it dawned on him. "No, not a chance. Not a chance AT ALL."  
"Umm, okay then..." Ash mumbled. He moved away from Brock's tent. No less than five seconds after he did, the rain stopped. Ash blinked a few times once more, and completely forgot his conversation with Brock. He shrugged and went to his tent. In the distance, the fog laughed to itself, content with its handiwork.

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**Hope you enjoyed it, please review so I know what you think!**


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